The Distillation

Despite the growing body of research on the potential of psychoactive substances to help with anxiety, depression, drug addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a variety of other psychiatric conditions, there continues to be a limited number of clinical trials in the US in which people can legally take these drugs. Thus, Americans like Arlet, who have had little success with available mental health treatments and think a psychedelic might be the answer, are left to their own devices.

A similarity across all psychedelics, says Neal Goldsmith, a psychotherapist who studied mental health policy for Princeton University, is that they "allow you to see stuff that's already inside of you" such as painful memories, self-destructive behaviors, and unhealthy dependencies. This, he says, can be extremely difficult if a person isn't ready to confront themselves...A few months after meeting Arlet, Ray founded the AfterCare Project, one of the first initiatives in the country dedicated to connecting people who have taken ayahuasca with mental health professionals. She has a list of more than 70 therapists in the country who are doing some form of what's called "psychedelic integration therapy." They're helping people use the insights they received on LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, ayahuasca, and other psychoactive substances to maximize their personal growth. They also meet with people who are thinking about taking a psychedelic.

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